A New Year….a new start….and a new web site to boot!

To say that we are excited about our new site is an understatement. It has been months in the planning and making – not least because we wanted to create something that was friendly and warm, as well as functional, and that was also a large step away from the cold, impersonal sites scattering the web these days. Whether or not we’ve hit the right tone remains to be seen…fingers crossed.

But there has been more important things happening of late…

The Ribble Valley has spent most of the festive season under water….literally. Our local villages were cut off several times after the Rivers Ribble and Calder burst their banks and were in places over a mile wide! To see nature in action on this scale was both awesome and terrifying. Homes and businesses were waist high in water which came in a matter of minutes, rising up through floor boards and drains with little warning.

And then, as quickly as it came, it went.

The following day was sunny and bright which made the scale of the clean-up operation even more evident and stark. And then, when people were at their most desperate, came the surge of help from the community that boosted and carried them through the next few days. Eager to restore their beloved Valley to her former self they cleaned, mopped, gave clothes and bedding, roofs over heads and hot meals. The collective response to what has been a tragedy for some has been wonderful to witness and shows no sign of abating until the “job is done”.

Photo by Rob Lock of local farmer trying to save his livestock.

Now, we’re just holding our breath in the hope that we have a rain-free few weeks to allow the sodden fields and lanes to dry.